Research paper by Julian Buchanan & Caroline Hughes presented at the British Criminology Conference in 2012

1. 1
Beyond the rhetoric of
youth homelessness:
Telling it as it is
Wales Office of Research and
Development for Health and Social
julian.buchanan@vuw.ac.nz
Care (WORD)

2. 2
Research aim
To engage with homeless young people (16-24 year olds) living in
the Wrexham area, who have complex needs, in order to
ascertain their experiences and perceptions of:
 the needs of homeless young people;
 the barriers to accessing services;
 the facilitators to accessing services;
 the identification of unmet need.

3. 3
Research approach
i. The research was designed to be carried out with homeless young people rather
than on homeless youth and sought to ensure the voices of young people were
heard.
ii. Five young people in need who were between 16-24 years old and known to be
homeless or living in temporary accommodation were identified by Barnardo’s and
invited to form a Research Advisory Group.
iii. To establish an effective Advisory Group, time was needed to establish
rapport, trust and understanding so they would feel more comfortable and able to
advise on all aspects of the field work.
iv. The YP Research Advisory Group advised the research team on interview schedule
design, use of language, access issues, location of interviews and the identification
of new recruits for the research. They helped to validate and analyse the findings of
the research

4. 4
Sample and methods
 Young people who are homeless means that they can be a ‘hard to reach’ group- In order to
access this group the research team began by utilising the relationships already established by
Barnardo’s Compass project
 A snowballing sampling technique was used to expand and capture a larger group of young
homeless people. The YP Research Advisory Group passed on information (by word of mouth
and by the design and distribution of written material) to other young people in the area.
 Snowballing proved successful initially, but after completing ten interviews the research team
struggled to gain access to any further young people. We decided to increase our sample by
purposive sampling - we accessed homelessness services used by young people including The
Soup Dragon, Foyer, Hafan, St. John’s hostel and Ty Nos Night Shelter
 20 young people were interviewed -10 young men and 10 young women. All were currently
homeless or living in temporary or unsuitable accommodation and have additional difficulties.
 The semi structured interviews provided rich narrative and personal data. All interviews were
digitally recorded, transcribed, coded and analysed using NVivo software. This process helped to
identify dominant themes which were explored and agreed jointly by the research team and YP
Advisory Group.

5. 5
Demographic data

6. 6
Experiences of young people interviewed
In care
 Julian-I couldn’t copy and paste in the graphs on
page 22 and
Experienced Bullying 23-can you please
Excluded from school
Have a disability
Have qualifications
Have children
Speak Welsh
male

7. 7
Difficulties faced by young people interviewed
Prison
Criminal Record
Victim of Crime
Mental Health Problem
Drug Problem
Alcohol Problem
Banned
Slept Rough
Lived in hostel

8. 8
Findings: Struggle and Disadvantage
• A quarter of the YP had lost one or both parents (n=5). The YP had
experienced a range of trauma in their lives including bereavement, domestic
violence, physical and sexual abuse, neglect and rejection:
‘My mum used to get beaten up by my dad every day, so I was always
getting on the wrong [side]and I used to get hit instead.’
• Both male and female respondents had been victims of sexual abuse (n=4)
both as a child and while homeless. YP without support or social capital
described having to sell their bodies to cope with finding themselves
homeless-one young person explained:
‘I did it a lot of times where I would just go to a pub and find some man and
just so it was somewhere to sleep’.

9. 9
Perceived needs: practical help
• Almost half (n=9) of the young people interviewed identified having difficulty with independent
living skills as an important issue.
‘A lot of them have come from home or they have been in care for years so have never had to do
anything for themselves, some of them do not know how to use a washing machine or how
to cook a meal or how to iron … some people don’t even know how to wash properly you
know it’s just life skills, it’s things people take for granted every day some people don’t
even have a clue of that.’
• All the young people interviewed expressed that they wanted a more stable lifestyle. Securing
permanent accommodation that met their needs was seen as a priority.
• Some of the young people that were interviewed are parents (n=7)- two of the young people gave
accounts of being offered accommodation that they did not find suitable for a baby.
‘... as soon as I found out I was sharing a house with two men you know I wasn’t judging them
before I met them, but what I had heard about them I didn’t want my son near, you know
me myself I could have handled - but not with a 6 month old baby - because I was sterilizing
his bottle in the kitchen and you are supposed to leave them in the fridge and I thought
how do I know I can trust these men not to put anything in them? When you have got a
child you think of all these things and you worry’.

10. 10
Perceived needs: health and well being
 Difficult for YP to develop health eating patterns e.g. When placed in B&B accommodation without
cooking facilities:
‘I have got my own microwave out of my first homes grant and a mini fridge….I can do jacket
potatoes … too many takeaways.’
 Only one yp felt that an alcohol problem was the cause of becoming homeless ; more commonly,
respondents described using alcohol and/or drugs as a way of coping with problems:
‘ When you’re drunk or on drugs you don’t care where you sleep, so it’s easier to get drunk and
wake up in the morning and think oh god, and you get another drink so you don’t care then
you forget.’
 Almost ¾ of the YP described experiencing mental health problems (n=14) and many of these
concerns were apparent before the onset of homelessness. A quarter of the respondents talked
about suicide attempts they had made (n=5)
‘I lived on the streets for a year and a half doing drugs and stuff I was in the hospital for a week
and that, because I took an overdose because I couldn’t cope anymore’.

11. 11
Findings: Barriers to accessing services
• Young people did not know how to access support on becoming homeless. Some YP had
learnt about services from other young people who were in similar situations :
‘Learned more from people on the street. They are like, because me and [NAME] are young
they take us under their wing and you know help us and tell us what you have to do
and things like that.’
• All of the YP described negative experiences and or feelings towards the housing department-
the YP perceived that they were viewed in a negative light by front line staff in the homeless
section:
‘when you are speaking to them sometimes they make you feel uneasy because they speak
down to you; I find it very hard to speak to the council about problems with housing
and stuff…When I come out I feel like awkward and I feel like upset sometimes...’
• The majority of young people have experienced assaults, name calling and discrimination at
being homeless; they feel stigmatised and rejected by the general public :
‘They definitely put a stamp on them saying oh he’s a druggie or he’s an alchy or whatever,
definitely … but if they’ve never been in the situation themselves they can’t really
judge and I say that to people.’

12. 12
Findings: Facilitators to receiving help
 They valuedsupport the for homeless young people in Wrexham provided by the
voluntary sector, with staff who are perceived by the young people to be
committed, supportive and approachable.
 YP value friendships with other people in similar situations, and obtain support from
the relationships:
‘I’m with my friend, she’s homeless as well, It’s been quite bad but at least now that, I’ve made a lot
of good friends, because a lot of my friends are homeless anyway so they know what I’ve been
through and I know what they’ve been through…I won’t leave her on her own, she knows I
won’t…we’re together twenty four seven…I was homeless and she was homeless at the same time,
since then we’ve just been inseparable, always been together.’

13. 13
Issues
1. Some vulnerable youth with complex need slipped through the welfare net
2. Many vulnerable youth with complex became excluded or banned from basic care and
support making them more vulnerable
3. The care system failed to help a number of the young people to negotiate the transition
to independent adulthood
4. Most of the homeless young people perceived and experienced stigma and hostility
from the community
5. The employment prospects for unskilled young people are bleak and much worse for
this vulnerable group
6. Services are largely geared to help people cope with homelessness rather than getting
them out of homelessness
7. The group remain isolated lacking social capital and networks and become increasingly
at risk of drifting into cycles of crime, police cells, courts, probation and prison.

14. 14
Revolving Door of Homelessness
police custody
&
prison

15. 15
Recommendations
1. Information about leaving home and homelessness should be more available to all
young people more generally.
2. There is a need for a more accurate assessment of the actual number of young
homeless people.
3. In order to make contact with an often hidden population of young people who
are homeless developing an outreach buddying or befriending services could be
considered.
4. Staff engaged in front line services, particularly those in the statutory sector, need
to develop greater understanding and sensitivity towards this vulnerable group.
5. Young people who have experience of being homeless could be employed across
various agencies to provide a wide range of support and guidance services

16. 16
Recommendations
6. A more effective Inter-Agency Youth Homelessness Forum, with good
representation from young homeless people (who should be paid for
their attendance and contribution) could help identify, inform, monitor,
advise and review on a wide range of housing issues
7. Stigma is an issue that could be tackled in local communities by public
awareness events and campaigns, possibly led by the Inter-Agency Youth
Homelessness Forum.
8. A dedicated inter-agency seven day a week one-stop-shop day centre drop-
in with practical support services to meet basic needs such as warmth,
shelter, showers, laundrette and basic refreshments combined with welfare
rights, social skills training and counselling would help vulnerable YP to
become better equipped and supported to exit the revolving door of
homelessness.
9. Need for further research to explore policies and practices that will enable
homeless young people to progress from homelessness to permanent
accommodation.

17. 17
Final thought
‘Vermin, scum, basically I had so many names called at me for
living under a bridge …I hated it. I just hated life’
(young person interviewed)
Julian Buchanan, Institute of Criminology, Victoria University of
Wellington, Aotearoa NZ